


Firefly

by DashFlintceschi



Series: Mythological Creatures Alphabet Challenge [16]
Category: You Me At Six
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 21:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3912016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DashFlintceschi/pseuds/DashFlintceschi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh is old, and he's tired, and he just doesn't have the energy to hide any more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Firefly

**Author's Note:**

> P is for Phoenix. This came out both more depressing, and cheesier than I meant it to, god knows how. Character deaths mentioned in the warnings are from old age, though, so there's that, at least.

There’s something different about Josh. Dan knows that, has known since they met, he just can’t figure out what. He knows that Josh is always ridiculously warm, to the point where Dan often thinks Josh is feverish, even when he seems otherwise fine; he knows Josh hasn’t aged a day in the fifteen years they’ve known each other; he knows Josh is always kind, caring and selfless to a fault; and he knows that sometimes, Josh has an unexplainable aversion to some people, who later turn out to be bad in some way. He knows all this, he just doesn’t know what it all adds up to.

He and the rest of their band finally find out what it adds up to one day in late June. Josh has been ill for several weeks, steadily worsening, rather than recovering, and always refusing to see a doctor. Dan’s been keeping an eye on him, and his temperature has been climbing even higher than usual, but he still hasn’t shown any signs of delirium, or any other symptoms that usually come with a high fever.

On the day they discover Josh’s secret, they’ve been lounging on Josh’s couch all day, deciding that, if he won’t seek medical help, they’re just going to have to nurse him back to health. He’s been mostly still and silent all day, until late afternoon, when he suddenly sits bolt upright.

“You need to leave, all of you, right now,” he gasps out, his chest heaving as he struggles to breath, sweat trickling down his face.

“As if we’re going to leave you alone when you’re like this,” Max scoffs, the three of them nodding in agreement as Josh doubles over with a groan.

“Please, you have to leave, I’ll hurt you if you stay, I don’t want to hurt you, please,” he begs, but none of them move, squinting at him in confusion and concern.

“No, I’m not leaving you. At the very most, I’m willing to go into the kitchen and close the door. It’s glass, so we’ll still be able to see you, but we’ll be out of harm’s way, deal?” Dan compromises, and Josh nods.

“Alright, just go, quickly, please!” He begs, and the four of them jump up, rushing into the kitchen and closing the door, only to press themselves up against it, watching him with scared eyes.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Chris mumbles, and Matt sighs.

“Yeah, but Dan was right to do it, it was either this, or he would’ve made us leave, at least this way, we can still help him,” he reminds him, and Chris nods.

They watch quietly as Josh drags himself to his feet and stumbles to the middle of the room, still clutching his stomach in pain. Suddenly, he bursts into flames with an agonised scream. Without hesitation, Dan throws the door open and runs towards him, grabbing a blanket from the back of the couch to smother the flames.

“No! Don’t! J-just l-leave me!” Josh cries out, his voice stuttering and weak.

“What?! But you’re-”

“It’s supposed to h-happen. Just…”He trails off, collapsing to the floor as the flames fade and die. Dan rushes to Josh’s side, the others close behind him as he drops to his knees, fingers gently sliding along his neck in search of a pulse.

“I think he’s dead, I can’t find…” He chokes out through his tears, freezing in shock as Josh takes a gasping breath and sits up.

“Don’t move! We’ll get an ambulance, and-” Max stops as Josh laughs slightly and holds up his hand.

“No need, honestly, I’m fine, better than I have been in weeks, in fact,” he reassures them, using Dan’s shoulder to steady himself as he gets to his feet. “Give me fifteen minutes to get a shower, and some clean clothes, and I’ll explain everything.”

Exactly fifteen minutes later, Josh sticks to his word. He sits down with them, showered and in clean clothes, and they have to agree, he looks better than he has in a while.

“I don’t expect any of you to believe me, but what I’m about to tell you is the absolute truth, and I need you to swear that you won’t breathe a word to anyone,” He pauses and looks up at them, nodding and sighing as they nod their agreement. “I’m a phoenix. What you just saw was my rebirth, which, let me tell you, is a long time coming. I’ve been feeling worse and worse for years, but I had to keep putting it off, because of our touring schedule, I could never get somewhere safe enough or private enough to do it,”

“So, is that why you’ve looked so shit lately, because you were putting it off?” Chris asks, and Josh laughs slightly.

“Yeah, I always look and feel like shit before a rebirth anyway, but it’s worse when I have to put it off,” he explains, and Dan gets a thoughtful look on his face.

“You’re really old, aren’t you?” He asks quietly, and Max laughs.

“Oh, that’s very nice!” He chokes out through his laughter, and Dan joins in with his laughter slightly as he gets up and disappears for a few minutes.

When he comes back, he’s got his old high school history book in his hand, already open to the right page.

“I remember seeing this, and laughing it off, not long after we met, but it is you, isn’t it?” He asks, sitting down beside Josh and resting the book on Josh’s lap. The others shuffle over to get a look, their eyes widening in surprise. It’s a photo of a painting of the crew of the Mayflower, just before it left Plymouth for the New World, and there, on the captain’s left hand side, is Josh.

“Yeah, it’s me. Phoenixes live for thousands of years. We try to avoid stuff like this, where people can trace us through history, but it doesn’t always work out,” he explains, and Chris frowns at him.

“Then why the fuck are you in this band? There’s no easier way to trace someone through history than if they’ve been in a band with a number one album,” he asks, and Josh gives him a sad smile.

“I’ve been around for far, far too long. At this point, I think I’m only staying alive for the four of you. Once you’re gone, I won’t be far behind you,” he tells them, and Dan takes Josh’s hand, squeezing tightly. He wants to tell him that he can let go, cross over, if he wants to, but he can’t bring himself to say it.

“So, you’re even older than we thought, then? This painting is from 1620, which was roughly 395 years ago, which would make you 400-odd years old, but you’re even older than that?” He asks instead, and Josh smiles.

“Let me put it this way, I once had an affair with Caligula,” he tells them, and Max laughs.

“Seriously? You shagged a Roman emperor?” He asks, and Josh shrugs with a nostalgic smile.

“It was more than that, he was my first great love. His real name was Gaius, and he was a total sweetheart, believe it or not. Well, he was to me, anyway. Outliving him was… Painful, to say the least,” he tells them sadly, and Dan squeezes his hand sympathetically.

“You must have outlived a lot of people you cared about,” he comments, and Josh nods.

“Yeah, after Gaius, I didn’t let myself get close to anyone for a long time, but I still lost too many people I care about. I always feel so guilty, I swore I’d never forget them, and I haven’t, but it’s been so long since I said their names. They deserve to be remembered properly, and I haven’t,” he whispers, and Matt takes his other hand, squeezing it along with Dan.

“Then say them, now. You don’t have to tell us everything, not if it hurts too much, but say their names, let them know they haven’t been forgotten,” he urges, and Josh smiles sadly as tears well in his eyes.

“Gaius; Tom; Will; Jeff; a different Will, but no more or less important or loved; Rory; James; Vince; Paul; Harry; Sean; Jack; Fred; and Ben,” he chokes on a few names, has to pause to calm himself a few times, but he gets there in the end. “I should also add, three of those names are names you’d recognise quite well, in their entirety,” he adds, and they frown at him in curiosity. “William Wallace, Geoffrey Chaucer, and William Shakespeare. Things were a lot easier back then, sexuality wasn’t a thing. You shagged who you shagged, or loved who you loved, and as long as they didn’t have an angry spouse at their heels, no-one gave a damn. Now, it’s all ‘sexual orientation’ and bigotry, and stupid laws. The world’s a lot angrier than it used to be,” he trails off, leaning against Dan’s shoulder as memories of loves long since gone flit through his mind.

“What about the rest of them? The names we don’t recognise?” Dan asks softly, wrapping his arm around Josh, his thumb rubbing his shoulder comfortingly.

“Just… Normal men, but in the most extraordinary way. Tom, he was a carpenter, I lost him to the black plague; Rory came to the New World with me, he was lost to the cold during the first winter; James died in an industrial accident; I was lucky for a while after that, Vince, Paul and Harry all died of old age or natural causes, I had much longer with them than I ever thought I would; Sean… We were on the Titanic. I tried to keep him warm, keep him alive, but the water was almost too cold for me to survive. Jack… We fought in World War 2 together, he died in the trenches a month before the war ended. Fred was a hippy, he overdosed at Woodstock. And Ben, he was a miner, he was killed in the riots over the miner’s strike.”

They’re quiet for a while, the four of them aching for their best friend, who’s seen far more death and destruction than any of them can ever imagine. Finally, Dan clears his throat.

“I meant, tell us about them when they were alive,” he amends softly, and Josh smiles ruefully.

“Somehow, it hurts less to talk about how they died, than it does to talk about their lives,” he tells them, and Dan squeezes him tighter.

Matt decides then, that Josh could probably benefit from a change of subject.

“So, is that why you’re always so warm, then?” He asks, and Josh grins, knowing exactly what Matt’s doing, but appreciating it too much to call him out on it.

“I’m made of sunlight and fire, or course I’m always warm,” he laughs, and Matt grins.

“And the reason you always seem to know when someone’s not quite right? That’s a phoenix thing, too, isn’t it?” Max asks, and he nods.

“You know how, in the myths surrounding us, we only allow ourselves to be seen by good wizards? Well, it’s half right. We have an aversion to people with tainted souls, or anyone with even the tiniest bit of evil in them. Being around them makes us physically ill,” he tells them, and Dan grins.

“So we should take how long you’ve put up with us as a compliment, then?” He asks, making Josh grin.

“Oh, definitely,” is all he says, smiling a little, secret smile to himself. If he tells them that they have some of the purest souls he’s ever encountered, their egos will never deflate.

Josh spends the next seventy years doing everything he can to keep his best friends happy, healthy and safe, and he does it very well. All four of them are approaching one hundred by the time they die, one by one, slipping away peacefully in their sleep, with Josh at their sides, still determined to take care of them, to the very last. And just as he said all those years ago, when Max, the last of them to go, slips away, Josh follows, not an hour later, a small, peaceful smile on his face as he bursts into flames for the last time.


End file.
